Washington DC - A federal judge on Monday set a trial date of March 4, 2024, for the United States of America versus Donald J. Trump – placing one of the biggest criminal cases in American history in peak election season.

The decision puts the opening of Trump's election subversion trial just one day before Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states vote in the Republican primary contest to pick the party's candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Trump is leading the crowded field comfortably, but his mounting legal troubles may throw a spanner in the works.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who led the investigation into the 77-year-old's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election – which he lost to Joe Biden – had wanted the trial to begin on January 2, 2024.

Joe Biden Japan hits back after Biden's "xenophobic" comment sparks controversy

Trump's attorneys had countered with a proposed date of April 2026 – well after the November 2024 election in which the real estate tycoon is seeking to return to the White House. That was considered "far beyond what is necessary" by US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, whom the former president has previously attacked.

Trump took to his social network, Truth Social, before the hearing got underway to demand that the case be dismissed, calling Smith "deranged" and accusing President Joe Biden of sowing "division, anger, and hatred."

"It will only get worse because these deranged lunatics know no bounds. Someday, however, Sanity will again prevail," he posted as Chutkan began hearing arguments at a federal courthouse in Washington DC.

Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in an early August court appearance and was not required to attend Monday's procedural hearing.